We studied the avifauna composition and its abundance in a rural area of the city of Viamão, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. The study area was composed of fields used for cattle breeding and for agricultural activities (20 ha), secondary forest (7 ha), eucalypt plantation (6 ha) and Pinus sp. plantation (1 ha). Quantitative and qualitative surveys (using line transects) were carried out from May 5 to November 20, 2006. Every detected bird (heard or seen) was considered in the analysis. The survey comprised a total of 80 hours. We recorded 92 species of birds in the study area. Some species were recorded only at the secondary forest, such as Crypturellus obsoletus, Piculus aurulentus, Sclerurus scansor, Dendrocolaptes platyrostris, Conopophaga lineata, Myiarchus swainsoni, Chiroxiphia caudata and Euphonia pectoralis, which indicate more selectivity in certain habitats. We emphasize the occurrences of Piculus aurulentus, an almost endangered species worldwide, and Dendrocolaptes platyrostris, which has no previous record in the region studied. The results show the importance of native forests for the maintenance of more selective bird species and indicate that new studies are necessary in the area and in adjacent forest fragments, in order to improve the knowledge about the composition and the abundance of bird species in degraded environments.
avifauna; rural area; forest remnants
